Despite mixed responses to Taylor Swift‘s behemoth double album The Tortured Poets Department, its cultural impact is undeniable. It officially birthed its first meme: “You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum that raised me.”
Of all the lyrics — and there are so, so many — the line from “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” track 10 of 31, is the run away hit with X / Twitter users. Swifties and non-Swifties alike are posting the lyric with images of the places that raised them.
In “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” the pop star complicates her relatable underdog narrative by drawing on the dark side of child stardom and urging listeners to fear her, going so far as to describe herself as “wretched” and “wrong.”
Throughout the album, Swift utilizes asylum language and imagery making the meme somewhat representative of the themes she explores. The physical album features a summary poem penned by Swift where she “pleads temporary insanity” and declares, “In summation, it was not a love affair” but “a mutual manic phase” and “self-harm.” The music video for “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)” shows her chained to a bed in a sterile facility, where she’s only released after taking “forget him” pills. Later, she’s seen receiving electroshock therapy.
According to Know Your Meme, the lyric was first quoted on X when The Tortured Poets Department leaked on April 17. It gained popularity after one user captioned a photo of the choir room in Glee with “You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum that raised me.” The meme grew from there. As always, the more the place caters to extremely online sensibilities, the better it performs.
Some posted other television “asylums” like Carrie Bradshaw‘s apartment floor plan in Sex and the City, the pool house in The OC, and Marnie Michael’s acoustic performance of “Stronger” in Girls.
Others reference online moments like 2014 Tumblr, A Very Potter Musical, and YouTuber drama. Then, of course, there were the actual physical places like Aeropostale.
The Swifties were Swiftying this whole time, posting about Ticketmaster queues and that era where people thought Swift didn’t have a belly button.
What lyric will grab the internet’s attention next? Perhaps, “I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday every day?”
